Pakistan Navy ships visit UAE to participate in Nasl Al Bahr exercise

The group photo shows Pakistan and UAE navy staff during Pakistan navy team's visit to port Mina Zayid in Abu Dhabi, UAE on September 7, 2024. (Photo courtesy: Pakistan Navy)
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Updated 07 September 2024
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Pakistan Navy ships visit UAE to participate in Nasl Al Bahr exercise

  • The ships were received by UAE Navy officials and Pakistan’s defense attaché upon arrival at Mina Zayed Port in Abu Dhabi
  • The exercise aims to enhance interoperability, operational readiness and consolidate existing relations between both navies

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Navy Ships (PNS) Shamsheer and Haibat arrived at Mina Zayed Port in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to participate in the Nasl Al Bahr naval exercise, Pakistan Navy said on Saturday.
Upon arrival at the port in Abu Dhabi, Pakistan Navy ships were received by senior officials of the UAE Navy and Pakistan’s defense attaché, according to the Directorate General Public Relations (DGPR) of Pakistan Navy. 
Mission commander of Pakistan Navy, Commodore Shahid Wasif, along with commanding officers of PNS Shamsheer and Haibat called on Brig. Abdullah Faraj Al Muhairi, deputy commander of the UAE Navy.
During the interactions, matters of mutual interests were discussed and enhancement of bilateral ties in all spheres was reaffirmed. In addition, modalities for the conduct of the exercise were also deliberated upon with the host navy.
“After the port call, PNS SHAMSHEER & PNS HAIBAT will participate in Ex NASL AL BAHR,” the DGPR said in a statement. “The exercise is aimed to enhance interoperability, display operational readiness and consolidate existing strong bilateral relations between the two navies.”
During the port stay, UAE’s Assistant Minister for Security and Maritime Affairs Salem Saeed Al-Jabri, Pakistan’s ambassador to the UAE Faisal Niaz Tirmizi, senior leadership of the UAE armed forces and notables from the Pakistani community also visited the ships.
Students and Pakistani community displayed excitement during their visit, while officers and men of both navies also conducted cross visit of naval units and participated in joint sports activities.
The UAE is Pakistan’s third-largest trading partner after China and the United States. It is also home to more than a million Pakistani expatriates and the second-largest source of remittances to Pakistan after Saudi Arabia.


Pakistani, Russian armies kick off ‘Druzhba-VII’ joint counter-terror exercise

Updated 15 October 2024
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Pakistani, Russian armies kick off ‘Druzhba-VII’ joint counter-terror exercise

  • Exercise aims to harness military-to-military ties between Pakistan and Russia, says army’s media wing 
  • Two-week-long exercise kicked off in Pakistan’s northwestern town of Pabbi, says Inter-Services Public Relations

ISLAMABAD: The armies of Pakistan and Russia have kicked off a bilateral joint counter-terrorism exercise, “Druzhba VII” this week to refine their militaries joint training and enhance military-to-military relations, the army’s media wing said on Tuesday. 

The two-week-long exercise commenced on Oct. 13 at the National Counter Terrorism Center in the northwestern town of Pabbi, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the army’s media wing, said. Pakistan army’s light commando troops and the Russian military contingent are taking part in Druzhba VII 

“The Exercise is aimed at refining professional skills through joint training besides harnessing the historic military-to-military relations among the friendly countries,” the ISPR said. “Participating troops are looking forward to benefit from mutual expertise/ experience.”

Pakistan and Russia have been deepening their military cooperation over the past few years. In 2014, Russia lifted a longstanding arms embargo imposed on Pakistan while in August 2015, it agreed to sell four Mi-35M attack helicopters to Pakistan.

The two countries have also warmed up to each other in recent years, with Islamabad and Moscow bolstering efforts to enhance bilateral trade and investment. Earlier this month, Pakistan’s commerce minister led a delegation of 70 businesspersons to an inaugural trade and investment forum between the two countries in Moscow. 

In order to escape a prolonged economic crisis, Islamabad seeks to enhance its role as a transit hub for landlocked economies in Central Asia. For this, it has expressed interest in connecting with Russia through Central Asian states for bilateral trade.

Islamabad’s ties with Russia also saw significant improvement last year after Pakistan started purchasing Russian crude oil at a discount rate. The development came after geopolitical tensions almost doubled the fuel prices in Pakistan last year, forcing the South Asian country to opt for cheaper sources of fuel.

Pakistan also received its first shipment of liquified petroleum gas from Russia in September 2023, marking Islamabad’s second major Russian energy purchase. Last month, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk arrived in Islamabad on a brief visit, seeking to expand trade and investment ties with Pakistan.
 


Pakistan’s Quaid-e-Azam University breaks into top 500 global institutions

Updated 15 October 2024
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Pakistan’s Quaid-e-Azam University breaks into top 500 global institutions

  • Located in Islamabad, the university is placed in the 401-500 band by Times Higher Education Rankings
  • Other Pakistani educational institutions on the list include LUMS, NUST, COMSATS and Air University

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Quaid-e-Azam University has secured a spot among the top 500 universities in the world, according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2025, with the institution placed in the 401-500 band.
The Times Higher Education World University Rankings are released annually and consider several benchmarks that include teaching, research, employability, and sustainability. Securing a position in these rankings not only enhances a university’s reputation but also reflects its academic excellence and global impact.
Quaid-e-Azam University is the only educational institution in Pakistan to fall in the 401-500 ranking band followed by seven other local universities falling within the 601-800 band.
“This year’s ranking analyzed more than 134 million citations across 16.5 million research publications and included survey responses from 68,402 scholars globally,” the Times Higher Education website said. “Overall, we collected 411,789 data points from more than 2,673 institutions that submitted data.”
“Trusted worldwide by students, teachers, governments and industry experts, the 2024 league table reveals how the global higher education landscape is shifting,” it added.
The Pakistani universities in the 601-800 band include Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Air University, Capital University of Science and Technology, COMSATS University Islamabad, University of Engineering and Technology Taxila, Government College University Faisalabad and National University of Sciences and Technology.
Eleven Pakistani universities attained a spot in the 801-1000 ranking band including Bahria University, Hazara University Mansehra, International Islamic University Islamabad, Islamia College Peshawar, University of Lahore, Lahore University of Management Sciences, University of Malakand, University of Management and Technology, University of the Punjab, Institute of Space Technology and University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore.
The 1001-1200 ranking band included 13 Pakistani universities while the 1201-1500 ranking band included four local universities and the rest fall in the 1500+ category.
Quaid-e-Azam University is located in Pakistan’s capital city of Islamabad. Its inclusion in top 500 global institutions underscores its emerging prominence on the world stage, highlighting its commitment to delivering quality education and research.


Pakistan’s Punjab forms committee to probe alleged rape of Lahore student

Updated 2 min 44 sec ago
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Pakistan’s Punjab forms committee to probe alleged rape of Lahore student

  • Hundreds of students protested this week over alleged rape of Lahore college student by security guard
  • Seven-member committee headed by Punjab chief secretary to probe incident college says is “false”

ISLAMABAD: The chief minister of Pakistan’s most populous Punjab province on Tuesday formed a committee to investigate the alleged rape of a college student in the eastern city of Lahore, following clashes between police and students over the reported incident. 

Hundreds of students on Monday staged protests over the reported rape of a student of a private college in Lahore, forcing the closure of one of the campuses while police and provincial government officials denied the incident took place.

The incident was first reported on social media over the weekend, with varying accounts stating the rape took place on Thursday or Friday evening in the basement of the Punjab College for Women campus in Lahore. Police on Monday said no victim had come forward to file a complaint and the college dismissed the allegations as “false.”

“Apropos the subject, the chief minister has constituted a high-powered committee to investigate the reported incident of rape crime at the Punjab College for Women,” a government notification shared by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the ruling party in Punjab province, said. 

The seven-member committee is headed by the chief secretary with the advocate general of Punjab, home secretary, higher education secretary, special education department secretary and specialized health care and medical education department secretary as members. The seventh member would be any other member co-opted by the committee, the notification said. 

Police on Monday took into custody a security guard who was identified as the culprit by students online. The notification said that one of the terms of reference of the committee would be to gather facts, collect evidence and record any statements related to the alleged incident. 

It would also ascertain the appropriateness of the responses to the incident by the college and the Punjab Police when the incident came to light. 

“The committee shall submit the report along with the findings to the chief minister within 48 hours,” the notification said.

In a video statement shared on social media, the father of the alleged rape victim regretted that his daughter’s name was being associated with the incident. Standing beside Additional Superintendent of Police Shehrbano Naqvi, the father said his daughter was admitted to a hospital after she slipped and suffered an injury to her backbone. 

“We have handed her medical reports and everything to the police,” he said. “Those who have daughters, only then can understand the pain we are going through [because of the rumors.]“


Pakistan 79-2 at lunch in second England Test after Jack Leach strikes

Updated 15 October 2024
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Pakistan 79-2 at lunch in second England Test after Jack Leach strikes

  • Pakistan lost two early wickets of Abdullah Shafique and Shan Masood before lunch
  • England lead three-match series 1-0 after winning first Test by an innings and 47 runs

MULTAN, Pakistan: Saim Ayub and Kamran Ghulam lifted Pakistan to 79-2 at lunch Tuesday on the first day of the second Test, after England’s Jack Leach took two early wickets on a used pitch offering help to the spinners.
Ayub was unbeaten on 40 and debutant Ghulam 29 not out as the pair steadied Pakistan from 19-2 after the home team won the toss and opted to bat in Multan.
Returning England captain Ben Stokes turned to his spinners after just five overs on the same pitch used for the first Test last week and Leach soon struck.
Abdullah Shafique was bowled by Leach for seven in the eighth over of the morning with the score on 15.
In his next over, the left-arm spinner had captain Shan Masood caught low at short midwicket by Zak Crawley for three.
At lunch, Leach had 2-35 from 10 overs.
England lead the three-match series 1-0 after they won the first Test at the same venue by an innings and 47 runs on Friday.
Pakistan’s defeat — their sixth in as many Tests — prompted the selectors to make four changes.
Out went batsman and former captain Babar Azam, pace bowlers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah, plus spinner Abrar Ahmed who was taken ill in the first match.
They were replaced by Ghulam and the spin trio of Sajid Khan, Zahid Mahmood and Noman Ali, leaving Pakistan with only one fast bowler in Aamer Jamal.
Stokes was back from a hamstring injury for England, replacing Chris Woakes, while fast bowler Matthew Potts came in for Gus Atkinson.


Pakistan reports fresh polio case, taking 2024 tally to 33 

Updated 15 October 2024
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Pakistan reports fresh polio case, taking 2024 tally to 33 

  • Pakistan reports latest polio case from southwestern Quetta district in Balochistan province 
  • Pakistan faces challenges in fight against polio, most prominent among them militancy 

KARACHI: Pakistan’s polio program said this week another case of the poliovirus has been reported from the country’s southwestern Quetta district, taking the total number of cases this year to 33. 

Pakistan, along with neighboring Afghanistan, remains the last polio-endemic country in the world. Starting from late 2018, Pakistan saw a resurgence of cases and increased spread of polio, highlighting the fragility of gains achieved in the preceding three years.

“Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health Islamabad has confirmed the detection of wild poliovirus type-1 case from Quetta District of Balochistan,” the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme said on Monday. 

The total number of poliovirus cases this year from Balochistan has increased to 17 while the number of cases reported from Sindh are 10. The northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has reported four while one case each has been reported from Punjab and Islamabad.

The polio program said that environmental samples from Quetta district and Quetta city have been consistently positive for poliovirus this year, indicating continued circulation of the virus and risk to children. It added that this year, 37 positive environmental samples and three cases have been reported from Quetta, while Quetta district has reported 65 positive environmental samples and 11 cases.

The program said implementing polio campaigns across Pakistan was a “challenge” last year. 

“Campaigns were staggered or postponed due to localized protests, boycotts and insecurity, leading to a cohort of missed children who can sustain poliovirus transmission,” the statement said. “This outbreak is indicative of the harm children suffer due to missed vaccination opportunities.”

Pakistan’s polio eradication program began in 1994 and the number of cases has declined dramatically since then but the country continues to face challenges in its fight against polio, including militancy, with polio workers targeted by attacks, particularly in the KP province.

The polio program has adapted to respond to climate disasters such as floods but continues to face disruptions. There are also gaps in supplementary immunization activities, especially in areas where the virus is still present.